St. Louis - Shaun Marcum threw a successful 30-pitch simulated game Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, an important next step in what the Milwaukee Brewers hope will be a return to their starting rotation within two weeks.

"Came out good," manager Ron Roenicke said. Rick (Kranitz, pitching coach) was happy with the way the ball was coming out. Second inning was better than the first. I think he's ready to go."

Marcum has been out since mid-June with tightness in his right elbow. He's currently on the 60-day disabled list, which would make him eligible to come off in about two weeks.

Assuming he doesn't experience any excessive soreness or unexpected setbacks on Monday, Marcum probably will be headed for two minor-league rehab starts. He could be sent out as early as Thursday.

"We threw everything," Marcum said. "I felt like I located most of my pitches for the most part. From a health standpoint, everything was good.

"Now it's just doing my work that I normally would in between starts and get ready for a rehab start."

Marcum stretched himself out fairly quickly after experiencing bouts of shoulder soreness in spring training each of the last two seasons and hopes that will be the case again this time with the elbow issue.

"A lot of it will probably depend on pitch count each start," he said. "Hopefully it's no more than two (starts), but if is it'd probably just be a third one and be ready to go after that.

"I threw 30 pitches today, the first rehab start will probably be around 40 or 50, and then the following one, probably add another 15 to 20 pitches."

Marcum said getting over the final hurdle of throwing a simulated game was big for him mentally.

"You can only do so much in bullpens," he said. "It's nice to do the up and down, see some hitters in the box. That way you can tell how they're reacting to the pitches and how the ball is coming out. I thought today went pretty well."

It appears rookie Mark Rogers will remain in the rotation until Marcum is ready to return.

If Marcum can string together a few good starts, it would help his case as a pending free agent as well as the Brewers, who might try and deal him via a waiver-wire trade.

Talk it out

Norichika Aoki was back in the lineup, hitting leadoff and playing right field a day after Roenicke seemed to indicate he would be starting Nyjer Morgan for a second straight game.

Roenicke said he talked with Aoki to allay any fears Aoki might have that he might be falling out of favor or that he was doing something wrong.

Roenicke had given Aoki off Wednesday and Saturday in order to try and get him both some physical and mental rest.

Aoki's role with the Brewers has gone from bench player to starter in right field in less than a season's time, and his average has fallen from a high of .303 on July 6 to .282.

"I think you lose a little bit," Roenicke said, referring to the language barrier and the possibility Aoki might have misinterpreted Roenicke's intentions.

"You have Kosuke (Inaji) interpreting, but still, you always lose something. For me, it wasn't a big deal (giving him a couple games off). For him, it may have been."

Aoki picked up a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning Saturday, and then ran his hitting streak to nine games on Sunday with a double to right in the third inning.

So far, so good

The Brewers have a pair of rookies in their rotation in Mike Fiers and Rogers, but Roenicke hasn't seen jitters from either of them.

Fiers has been a real find with a 5-4 record that doesn't do justice to how well he's pitched and a team-low 1.88 earned-run average.

Rogers turned in an outstanding start in his 2012 debut against Washington and was still decent in his second on Saturday despite a tough four-run third.

"Both those guys, good body language when they're out there," Roenicke said. "Both of them have gotten into some positions where you could get rattled, but I haven't seen it. Fiers, obviously we've had a bigger look at.

"But last night, I didn't see Mark panicking. I saw him still making pitches. That's a good sign when they're doing that."

Stay up to date on the Milwaukee Brewers wherever you are with "Milwaukee Baseball," the Journal Sentinel's mobile site for smartphones. Also available in both the Apple and Google Play app stores. Just search "Journal Sentinel baseball."Read more